Creative vs Technical

[miker]

Seems to me that a lot of ppl on this board fall into one category or the other, there are very few well skilled in both.

Why do creatives look down on technical skills?

Why should technical people feel threatened by creative thinking?

I think that this argument manifests itself well in the various posts of Mac vs PC:

Some of us are happy to pick a tool and use it.

Some of us like to understand how the tool works.

A few of us pick a tool by how it works and suits us best rather than relying on advertising campaigns and slogans.

A few of us push the envelope so to speak, push the tool to its limits.

But what good is that unless it is augmented by a creative mind?

Conversely, what good is a creative mind if you don't understand the tools you are using: you will be limited by your tool if you don't understand it and how to make it function for you and not against you.

And this doesn't just apply to computers, although the analagy is a good one.

Just because I am a PC user do Mac users automatically assume I know nothing about ICC and CMYK and all those other useful things that a printers can bring to a film (duh?!) - when I want to print promo material.

To take the analagy further, the common ground is the colour circle. We should only be arguing with people who don't know the difference between mixing paint and mixing light.

Sorry to babble for so long, but I really want to make a serious point from all this my computer is better than yours banter. Both sides are creative, both sides are technical - but perhaps in different areas.

[eddie]

Creative people are as 'threatened' by technical people, as much as technical people are threatened by creatives.

To generalise totally: I think technical people seem to have less tolerance than creative people though, and dont 'get it'.

An engineer cant fart around with philosophies when a car wont start, or a PC crashes. Who cares? Its not going to help fix it. He/She needs a clear cut black and white equation - a yes or no answer.

A 'creative' type is more likely to contemplate the whys and wherefores: 'There is no definate truth' - hence the difference in personalities.

A techie is applauded when he can quickly sove a problem. A creative is applauded when they come up with a wonderful idea (often whether its plausable or not)

I think both are afraid of the other.
Architects need to cross the boundary, film makers do too.

The problem with the Mac and PC thing is the nature of the forum on which its discussed. Only people who have access to computers can chat on this forum. That excludes a huge number of people. It includes a huge number of computer types who have a preference one way or the other.
The internet is still only really available to people who have some interest in computers, at least for forum chit chat, so those people tend to give a shit about what make of machine they use.

I think you might be suprised how uneven the forum playing field is. I think that there are far far more techie people online than creative people, even if they dont know it, or admit it to themselves. Or is that obvious?

phew......

[vitamin_D]

Hmmm...

To me this seems to touch upon the ongoing 'rivalry' between art and science -- it takes a rare person to love both equally, and it is more often scientists who love art than the other way around (e.g. Richard Feynman, Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagan...)

The modes of thought that the two require are, unfortunately, viewed as mutually exclusive as in the black and white answer vs. theoretical musings as mentioned above. Any scientist worth their salt will tell you that creativity is necessary to the furthering of their field, rather than an impedence (is that a word?)

What needs to happen is members of both camps need to openly invite their science/art counterparts to see the world through different eyes instead of arguing which is superior.

For the scientists reading this, the "technical people," I suggest you pick up Sagan's "The Demon Haunted World" -- chapter 17 (The Marriage of Skepticism and Wonder) alone is worth the price of admission.

For the artists, the "creative people," I suggest you pick up Dawkins' "Unweaving the Rainbow" -- the book which dares to ask if science renders the world less beautiful by unraveling its mysteries.

And...both camps need to just get together and hang out more often -- watch movies, drink beers or imbibe your drug of choice

------------------
-jim
Cheese and Whine - Film Criticism, Better Than That Fat Guy -

[Chance1234]

M.C Esher Technically Creative or Creative Technically ?

Stanley Kubrik Technical Artist or Artist with Technical skills ?

Academic or Active ?

Good Or Bad.

End of the Day i guess its how you use what you know, a couple of old sayins to throw on to the heap;

Knowledge is Power
A bad Workmen always blames his tools

Chance



------------------
5YLAC Films

www.itkoa.co.uk

http://www.lookingglass.atfreeweb.co...ghts/index.htm

download the deadlights trailer at

<http://www.lookingglass.atfreeweb.co...s/images/deadl
ights_trailer1.rm>

[k_wor.mytree]

I think the Tech Vs Art question is one that will run and run. As was pointed out earlier in this post you pick the path you choose and follow it. The problem comes when the journey becomes more important than the destination. That may sound arty farty, but the point I'm making is that fear comes from ignorance. Technical minded people cant't or won't look at things from a creative point of view and vise versa. If you want to succeed in any walk of life you must have a balance. Look at things from all angles and you might find that you see things anew.
So how doeas all this psycho-babble relate to film making?
From a personal point of view, I want to be a Director. Simple goal, but very complicated in execution. To be effective in the role of Director you have to be a jack of all trades. You have to be familar, or even expert, in the art of lighting, sound, camera work, and editing, all of which are technical subject, and balance it off with a business briane. And somewhere in there fit in creativity. But film making is considered a creative ART! The marriage of the creative and the technical. One cannot exsist without the other in the film making process. So in relation to films, the creative and the technical are one and the same.

------------------
Its MY TREE and I'll get out of it if I wish.

[miker]

Only now I realise it's the technicalities of creative marketing.